Improvement in brushes for cotton-gins



E. KEITH.

Cotton Gin Brush.

Patehted Sept. 19, 1845.

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U ITED STATES:

PATENT OFFICE,

EDWIN KEITH, OF BRID-GEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT INBRUSHES FOR COTTON-GINSJ Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,196, dated September 19, 1845.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN KEITH, of Bridge,- water, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Brushes of Saw- Gins for Ginning Cotton, of which the following is a full and exact description.

The brush to the saw-gin is fixed upon a shaft behind and parallel to the saw-cylinder, revolving, when the gin is in operation, in a direction opposite to that of the saw-cylinder, and at a much greater velocity. It is ordinarily of a greater diameter than the saws, and is inclosed within the frame of the ginstand by the side ceiling and top. Below the brush and within a few inches of the hair or bristles is placed the mote-board, which extends from one end of the brush to the other, inclined upward toward the back part of the gin-stand. In the rear of the mote-board is placed the flue or conductor, through which the ginned cotton is driven into the cottonroom by the current of air created by the fans or wings of the revolving brush. To'operate successfully, the brush should supply a regular current'of air through the flue sufficient to keep it clear, and at the same time the hair or bristles shouldbe so distributed over the outer surface of the brush frame as to detach the fibers of cotton from the saw-teeth in minute portions, and separate the fibers so that the motes, dirt, and false seeds may be more readily disengaged from the cotton, and the cotton delivered into the cotton-room'in a free and open state without having the fibers knapped or entangled together.

Brushes have heretofore been made in vari- .ous ways. Some of those in use have 'four or more fans or wings fixed around the shaft, with hair or bristles attached to their outer edges. Others have the shaft inclosed in a cylindrical, octagonal, or hexagonal case, the

a grating in front through which the saws pro ject, and an opening into the flue in the rear. Two brushes are sometimes madeuse of in the same maohineone of them cylindrical without fans, to detach the cotton from the saw-teeth, and another behind it with fans or wings, to receive the cotton from the first and drive it into the cotton-room. The air for the brush is sometimes supplied from the front part of the stand beneath the saw-cylinder, sometimes from an opening in the side ceiling around or near the shaft, and most frequently in both these ways.

The brushes heretofore in use, especially when ginning fast, in certain states of the atmosphere and courses of the wind, have dropped more or less of the cotton at the ends and in front of the mote-board, and much of it which has been delivered into the cottonroom has been found to be knapped or knotted and mixed with a good deal of dirt and motes.

The object of my improvement is. to take the cotton from the saw-teeth in minute quantities, with the fibers free and separated, and

in all states of the atmosphere to supply a constant and uniform current of air into the cotton-room, so that the cotton may be delivered into it in the same free and open state in which it is taken frpm the saws by the brush, and more free from motes and dirt than heretofore, and to prevent the cotton fromdropping or lodging in front of the mote-board or in any part of the flue; and these objects my brush is found to effect successfully.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l represents' a longitudinal sect-ion of my brush. d is the shaft. The journalsare at a, a. Z) Z) are two rows of bristles as intersected by this section.

In Fig. 2 an exterior view is presented of the end or head of the brush-frame and brush. h h is the center-piece of the head, whereby it is attached to the shaft, (or to the gudgeons if the frame rests on gudgeons, without having a shaft running through it.) c c c c are arms extending from this center-piece. g g g g are open spaces between the'arms to admit the air from without the side ceiling to the central part of the brush. Ati i i i is a circular hoop, cast in the same piece with the center-piece and arms, the whole piece being more conveniently made of cast-iron. This circle or hoop, thus inclosing or attached to or being of one piece with the arms, projects out an inch or two, more or less. The side ceiling at each end of the brush has a hole cut in it of a size corresponding to the circular hoop, that part of the side ceiling directly above this hoop being movable, so that the brush is put upon its hearings in the stand while this movable part of the side ceiling is removed out of its place, an'da'fter the brush is placed in the stand third of .the distance from the interior or cenit is slid down in its place, the semicircular space in its bottom fitting the upper semicircle of the hoop, and thus making the side ceiling complete. On this hoop is cast a flange, as shown by its section f in Fig. 1, which projects eccentrieally on the hoop an inch or two, more or less, to which the wooden part of the head j j j j is attached by the screws 76 70 k is, this flange being let into the wood. To this wooden v part the pieces of lagging or covering Z Z l l, &c., and the wings w w w w, &c., are attached.

The hoop above described, or some substitute for it, is a material part of my improvement, its object being to intercept and prevent currents andeddies of air within the gin-stand between the heads of the brush and the side ceiling, and especially to preventany current or eddy round on the outside of the brushheads into the openings 9 g g g. terial at what part of the space j j j 9' such eddies and currents are cut off, for the effect will be the same if the hoop is put any where in the space j jj j between the central openings, 9 g gg, and the periphery of the brush-head, and the hoop might be made torun in a circular groove or channel cut for it in the side ceiling, or it might be attached to the side ceiling and project over or rather shut upon the headof the brush at its periphery, or proiect into a circular groove or channel made purposely for it in the head of the brush; or two hoops might be attached, one to the ceiling and one to the head of the brush, of different diameters, and one shut over the other as closely as it could be made to do without causing friction, or they might be at'a dis-' tance from each other. A circular elevation on either the brush-head or the opposite ceiling will answer instead of the hoop, and the desired effect might no doubt be produced without the hoop projecting through the whole thickness of the ceiling or the brush-head, or into any groove, by adapting the edge of the hoop pretty exactly to the opposite surface, so that the brush might revolve without friction, and yet without leaving any considerable space to admit of the passage of any sensible current of air. But the hoop, as above described, is a perfectly effectual contrivance for the purpose, and is cheap of construction and convenient in operation.

The heads have grooves in them on the inside, into which the wings are fitted, so that they may slide into these grooves and befixed by screws or otherwise in their position. A transverse section of the wings w w w w is shown in Fig. 3, being, in the brush from which these drawings are taken, six in number, one being attached to each alternate piece of lagging; but the number of wings may be varied. There may be awing to each piece of lagging, or to every three, four, or other number. The number of wings and pieces of lagging represented in the drawings is found to answer perfectly well. The breadth of the wings may be, as represented in the drawings, about one- 1 It is imma- 3 tral surface of the lagging to the axis of the brush, or a greater or less proportion. I have made the wings three and a half inches wide for a twelve-inch saw, and they have been found to work perfectly well. Narrow pieces of lagging in which the bristles are set, extending the whole length of the brush, are attached at each end to the heads, as shown in the drawings, and the rows of bristles set in each piece of lagging may be one, two, or more. Two rows, as represented in the drawings, answer perfectly well in operation.

Sl -its or openings are left between each two successive pieces of lagging in the annexed drawings for the passage of air from the central part of the brush into the .currentthrough the flue; but the pieces of lagging may be jointed together like barrel-staves, and so make the brush-frame acylinder, and holesor openings of any form may be made for the passage of the air from the central part of the brush into the flue. Openings between the pieces of lagging from one end to the other of the brush, as they are represented in the annexed drawings, answer perfectly well inoperation. The openings, as represented in the drawings, may be fourscvenths of the breadth of the pieces of lagging-that is, the area of the openings for the air may be to that of the covered part of the brush-frame in the proportion of four .to seven, and the same proportion will answer in case of apertures of other forms being adopted. This proportion may bevaried very much without materially affecting the operations of the brush.

In common-sized gin-stands, for the purpose of supporting and securing the pieces of lagging, I usually construct a divisional head at about the longitudinal center of the brush,

to which the pieces of lagging are fastened. Instead of this divisional head, spokes or arms attached to the shaft may be Lconstructed for the same purpose.

I claim as my invention and ask a patent for 1. A cotton-gin brush made of acyl'indrical form, with holes or openings, as above described, or made with pieces of lagging with open spaces-betweenthem, as above described, also with openings at the ends about the axis of the shaft, as above described, for the admission of air, and made with wings, as above described, and with heads, the outer ones-having each a hoop, circular projection, or other equivalent contrivance for cutting off currents and eddies of air, as above described.

2. The hoop, circular projection, or other equivalent contrivance at the head of the brush for cutting off currents and eddies of air, as above described,with an opening'within the hoop or circular projection for the admission of air, as above described.

June 12, 1845.

In presence of- EDWIN KEITH.

WILLARD PHILLIPS, B10111). ROBINS. 

